They don't call the Formula One the million-dollar race for nothing.

Just before the drivers battled it out on the Singapore tracks last Sunday, well-heeled tourists were already racing down to various high-end boutiques in town - such as Gucci, Pois and Burberry - to spend millions of dollars in just one weekend.

The mad dash led to at least one boutique, at the Paragon in Orchard Road, raking in more than $1 million in receipts in just one day.

A salesperson from a luxury retailer, who requested not to be named, said: 'The day's total takings for Saturday alone was over a million. While most customers paid by credit cards, some produced stacks of notes.

'Our cash registers had more than $30,000 and we had to stay focused counting and recounting the notes.

'It was difficult while counting - customers kept coming to the cashier to pay for more items. It was crazy non-stop action at the cash register.

'There was hardly room to move because our store was so packed.'

Mostly male customers

Most of the customers, she said, were foreign visitors here for the Formula One race weekend from Sep 26 to 28, and they were mostly males.

'They would tell us they were in a hurry to catch the race and they got us to quickly pick out one or two items to take home as gifts for their wives or girlfriends,' she said.

'Some just stood at the cashier without browsing. Once we showed them the items, they would take a quick glance, pay and leave.'

The top sellers were bags, she added.

It was a welcome buzz of activity at the shopping centre, she said, as it had been rather quiet the past month, especially with the recent bad news from the global financial market.

'Some of our regular customers hesitate to buy as much as they did previously,' she said.

In contrast, the foreign visitors were pressed for time, but eager to shop and ready to spend.

'Even until Monday (the day after the race weekend), there were still many shoppers. Some customers told us they had extended their stay for one more day to shop,' she said.

She estimated that her shop's takings saw an increase of between 50 and 80 per cent.

'If only there can be a Formula One race here every weekend,' she said, beaming.

Sales supervisor for Burberry, Ms Hazel Tham, 38, said they had only re-opened the store after a month's renovation work last Saturday, when the qualifying races took place.

She said: 'We didn't plan the shop's reopening to coincide with the Formula One weekend, but it turned out to be an opportune time.'

She estimates the increase in sales to be about 20 per cent.

The customers were mainly men who came with a large number of their friends.

'Most of them came in with urgent requests to pick out jackets, shirts and pants for attending Formula One parties and events that very evening and over the weekend,' Ms Tham said.

'We also catered to a number of customers who needed alterations done urgently.'

Her colleagues also had to help some male customers pick out handbags or other items as gifts.

But it wasn't only the men rushing to buy formal wear.

Pois and Petit Pois, two boutiques that carry luxury labels for women, saw their share of female shoppers in a hurry to get dresses for cocktail events and dinner parties.

The manager, Miss Sharon Ngan, 30, said their two boutiques enjoyed a 20 per cent increase in business.

The prices for the shops' apparel range from $800 to $13,000.

She said the rush started Sep 25, just before the race weekend.

'Quite a number of women would walk in and say they needed two or three dresses. Some already had dresses, but wanted more options.'

Miss Ngan added: 'It wasn't only our store that was busy. There were many shoppers moving around and carrying shopping bags. It was a nice change because business in the past two months has slowed down with the economic downturn.

'We could feel everyone's mood lift suddenly and the atmosphere over the past weekend was very different from the others.

'The Formula One weekend definitely made a difference even though it was only for three days.'

This article was first published in The New Paper on Oct 5, 2008.